Excellent Thangka at Gyuto Tantric College
(By Tsem Rinpoche)
I love thangkas and statues. I have always since I was a young child.
This thangka is so well made and it is in Gyuto Tantric College. It shows the Three ‘Kingly’ Tantras recommended by Lord Tsongkapa as very effective paths to reach full enlightenment in one life. Lord Tsongkapa practiced these Three simultaneously and became fully enlightened. Their lineage stem from Tsongkapa to us up till current times.
Description
Top left to right: Gyaltsab Je, Tsongkapa, Kedrub Je
Middle left to right: Yamantaka, Guyasamaja, Cakrasamvara
Bottom left to right: Kalarupa, Vaishravana, 6-armed Mahakala, White Mahakala, Pelden Hlamo, Yudroma
I really like this thangka. One of my students went to Gyuto on a visit and snapped this picture.
Tsem Rinpoche
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A very rare beautiful thangka at Gyuto Tantric College. One of the most famous and one of the great monastic institutions of the Gelug. Well known for its study of Tantric meditation, Tantric ritual arts and Buddhist philosophy. Looking at this rare thangka paints a thousand words and a blessing to those who see it.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this beautiful Thangka. I’m beginning to learn how to appreciate the beauty of a blessed Thangka. ?
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this stunning thangka. Traditionally, thangka paintings are not only valued for their aesthetic beauty. We use thangkas to develop a clear visualization of a particular deity and strengthening our concentration and connecting a link between ourselves and the deity. Gyuto Tantric college is one of the great monastic institutions of the Gelug. Beautiful, colourful, spiritual art and looks fantastic and blessing for everyone looking at it. Amazing it shows the Three ‘Kingly’ Tantras as explained by Rinpoche.
i am 30 years old Bhutanese traditional artist. like to work in one of the good company or art dealer in abroad countries.because as my country is very small and poor in economics that the people in the country are also very poor.so that i am
looking forward to export my thangkas products in abroad.for that i need some body from abroad who can honestly help me to acheive my gold. with full of expectations.
Jeepers Creepers!
What a beautiful Thangka! I used to be afraid of wrathful deities when i first joined Kechara. But i grew to love them after learning the significance of the wrathfulness. I love wrathful deities now! The more fierce looking, the better! It is just like the wratfulness of a parent to their child.. =)
How blessed I am to be able to meet the Dharma and Rinpoche. May I be able to create the cause to receive higher tantric initiations from my perfect Guru in future! =)
Thank you for sharing this magnificent thangka, Rinpoche!
those deities in the thangka is breathtaking, may all of us have the good fortune to understand the secret of the ancient tantras so that we become beings that can bring real benefit to others.
I especially love the fact that thangkas are not just pieces of art that are done for the sake of self-indulgent creative expression or for merely aesthetic purposes but that the actual art of painting them is a spiritual practice too.
Rinpoche explained that thangka painters would do prayers before starting to paint and recite mantras throughout, in dedication of the sponsor or their Lama. Traditionally, they would never paint thangkas to be sold or for business as it was regarded as such a sacred practice. Nice that the practice of spirituality through arts has been around for so many thousands of years, so the concept behind KSA (www.kechara.com/ksa) finds much basis in this age-old tradition
Just waaaaaait til we get KWPC and unroll the biggest thangka in the world, ever. Break all the thangka records ever. And we’ll all paint them ourselves. A whole new generation of non-Tibetans painting the biggest ever thangka in the world. Giant giant buddhas all along the side of the Malaysian hills! hmph!
What a stunning piece of art! I remember a few years ago in the old Ladrang, Rinpoche gave an explanation on the role of Thangkas. How in olden times the Tibetans were nomads and it was inconvenient to carry with them a heavy, bulky statue. In its place, the Thangka is also an image of reverence. It is easily rolled up and just as easily unwound to be hung up on the wall. To be in the presence of such a masterpiece showcasing the 3 Kingly Tantras is beyond words. Thank you Rinpoche for posting up this picture so that whoever has the good merits to see it will be blessed.
This thangka is incredibly beautiful! I would love to see this in KWPC. For some reason, it is these 3 High Yoga Tantra Yidams that i seem to feel the most comfortable with. Lama Tsongkhapa attained enlightenment in 1 lifetime with this 3 Yidams. With the right meditations and a loving Guru, anyone can practice these Yidams and also attain enlightenment. That is why Tantra is so important.
However at this day and age there are not many lineage holders left as most of them are aging in the monasteries of Ganden, Sera and Drepung. Kechara House has embarked on a project to build a hospital and has completed it to serve and take care of the monks in those 3 great monasteries…and that is why i support Kechara as they also help preserve the lineage.
This grand tangkha or commonly known to the Tibetans as a trethang, is a breath taking art piece by itself. Its iconography of course goes beyond mundane connotations and is definitely a roadmap to enlightenment.
Like what Beng Kooi has mentioned, the three prominent deities in the middle of the painting represents the three deities of the Three Kingly tantras which are most effective during our time. Their prayers, mantras, visualizations and forms are meant to overcome our deepest delusions and attachments.
Having mastered these Tantras, we liberate ourselves from our current Samsaric disposition and will be able to ascend to higher attainments, bringing us back to our Buddha nature. And this can be achieved within one single life when done right, a living proof that accomplishment of Buddhahood is possible!
Thank you BengKooi for information on the three Kingly Tantras, namely, Guhyasamaha, Heruka and Yamantaka. I understand why Vajrayogini tantra will suit us common people, common guy at this time better, she only has one head and two arms, much easier to visualise if we ever get her sacred tantra. Imagine if we have to visualise Guhyasamaha w/consort (4 faces & 12 arms), Heruka (3 faces & 12 arms) and Yamantaka (9 faces & 34 arms). LOL.
Hey Peter, you are probably right that the Yamantaka painting that I painted which Rinpoche posted recently was doing a smiley to you, perhaps I didn’t paint it wrathful enough.LOL.
Terima Kasih Rinpoche!
This reminds me of a series of youtube videos that I watched some time back last year on tantric practices of this Gyuto Tantric monks but are now removed and unavailable.
Very logic defying thangkas and takes a trained eye to understand its full meaning and appearances. Not the ‘regular’ Buddhas…lol
I recall when my Christian parents saw Tibetan thangka paintings on NatGEO, their first reaction was ‘Demons!’ and wondered how they all looked so wrathful and ‘demonic’. Somehow I retorted back at that time to remind them that the God of the Old Testament wasn’t really a Brad Pitt himself considering what Moses and the other Old Prophets like Ezekiel experienced when they saw flaming tongues of fire, claws and talons of eagles and other monstrous forms…and even the Apostle St John who saw similar stuff in the last book of the New Testament, Revelations (which nearly got expunged from the Canon). They kept quiet….LOL
P.S I swear that when I saw that Yamantaka painting by Margaret Lee in one of Rinpoche’s post, He was doing a smiley at me! LOL
Dear Rinpoche
Thank you for sharing this thangka on this blogsite. I am always captivated by Rinpoche’s teachings on iconography. The deities all come to live in my mind when Rinpoche talks about them.
Beng Kooi, much appreciation for the information on the Kingly Tantras. Just a note how Kyabje Pabongka and Trijang Rinpoche’s name never fails to pop up whenever lineage teachings are mentioned. They are our heroes and all that we have to today is due to their compassion. It is due to their kindness that today, we have the pure lineage.
With a heart of reverence, may Pabongka Rinpoche and Trijang Rinpoche’s aspirations in this incarnation quickly be fulfilled.
The Three Kingly Tantras are also known as Sang-De-Jig-Sum, referring to Guhyasamaha, Heruka and Yamantaka. These were the great yidams recommended by Lama Tsongkhapa for his students and disciples. The tradition of these great lineages carried on through generations and generations of practitioners even up to the time of modern-day practitioners such as Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche, Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche and Kyabje Zong Rinpoche.
In fact, Kyabje Pabongka Rinpcoeh promoted Kalachakra and these great yidams of Lama Tsongkhapa. But for the common man, for the normal guy and for everybody during this time, he strongly promoted Vajrayogini because it suits us.
Every practitioner should learn well the history of our lineage:
Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche
http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/2010/07/pabongka-rinpoche-18781941.html
Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche
http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/2010/06/coming-from-a-devout-family-trijang-rinpoches-father-tserin-dondrub-descended-from-the-uncle-of-the-7th-dalai-lama.html
Such intricate works of devotional art…it must have been great source of practice for the mind 🙂
How wonderful to have an ‘audience’ with such a wonderful thangka of our lineage.
Thank you Rinpoche for posting this up.
Beautiful!
Heruka Chakrasamvara gives me chills. Very cool!